Half of Everything
by Agarwaen Lhach
Summary: The gumi finds a town of female hanyou, a few of which use jewel shards, and most of whom Inuyasha despises. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru’s interest in the village forces teamwork.


Disclaimer: I wish IY was mine. I would love to finally get Kagura and Fluffy-sama together. And give Shippou, Souta and Rin massive amounts of sugar and caffeine and force Jaken to baby-sit.

Summary: The gumi finds a town of female hanyou, a few of which use jewel shards, and most of whom Inuyasha despises. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru's interest in them forces teamwork.

Warning! Starting place for this is right after the panther demon arc. To be specific, right after "Aiming for Sango: Only You!" And that's the literal translation, not the evil terrible Viz title "Only You!"

Half of Everything

Chapter One: Anseijiyochi, Resting Place

"SHIPPOU, GIVE THAT BACK!"

"Osuwari!"

Inuyasha's face dug into the ground. Shippou jumped back up onto Kagome's shoulder and took a triumphant bite out of the fish stolen from the hanyou.

"Will you quit that?" Inuyasha yelled, spitting out dirt and grass.

Shippou smirked as Kagome glared. "Poor Shippou's hungry, aren't you?" Shippou quickly shifted the smug expression, replacing it with pitiful puppy-dog eyes. He nodded. "See?"

Inuyasha growled at the kitsune, who in turn blew a raspberry and jammed the entire fish into his mouth. Meanwhile, Miroku and Sango were calmly watching the daily lunch war. The wars over breakfast and dinner were hardly as interesting, as that was when Shippou and Inuyasha were the most tired, and morning and evening were also when it was the others' turn to watch Miroku find new ways to hit on Sango and be slapped, punched, thrown, and hit with whatever blunt object was closest.

Abruptly, Inuyasha's hand dropped to the hilt of Tessaiga, and Miroku's head snapped up.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"A demon," Miroku said quietly.

"Doesn't smell like it," Inuyasha muttered, brow furrowed. "More like a — "

"Hanyou?" said a cool, female voice.

Five heads whipped quickly about. A very tall young woman of around fifteen stood at the edge of the forest, a long, thick sword drawn and held at her side.

She wore red clothes that were very clearly Chinese, a short dress with a gold collar, buttons and sash, with curling designs of dragons. A red scarf was tied around her face with a gold string. It was opaque from her chin to her nose, but above that you could almost see two eyes. A red ribbon tied back a cascade of silver hair that flowed almost to her ankles, but it couldn't hide her white, very much dog-like ears. Around her neck was a silver chain supporting a translucent charm shaped like a bone. A shaggy, white tail brushed the top of her head. The jeweled scabbard for her sword was tucked into the sash of her dress.

Inuyasha drew Tessaiga. "Who are you?" he snarled.

She stepped forward and sheathed her sword. "Stand down, mutt-face. I'm not here to pick a fight."

_'She talks like Kouga,'_ Kagome mentally muttered.

"I'm on my way to a place that happens to need a fight and saw the kitsune pup and inu-hanyou there killing each other over a scrap of fish." Kagome couldn't tell, but she was quite sure that the girl was sniggering. "My people need help. Your people can help."

"What do you mean?" Miroku said guardedly, although Sango knew exactly what was going on in his mind. She had seen the glimmers of pure gold around that sword, and its scabbard was absolutely encrusted in jewels. Not to mention that the amulet around her neck could well be pure diamond, even if it was badly cut.

"Deep in this forest is a spring," she said ominously. "By the spring lies a village. That is my village. Of late, we require extra help repelling shard-using demons. You want jewel shards. My people don't much care about them. A deal, neh?"

"What kind of a deal?" Miroku said, a greedy look springing to his eyes.

The girl shifted her attention to him. "Lodgings. Weapons. Jewel shards. Of course, if that's not enough, I can always call that ookami-youkai Kouga to get the shards." She turned to leave.

_'Now she's done it,'_ Kagome thought.

"Fine," Inuyasha snapped. "Take us to this village of yours."

* * *

"Kentaurosu, Nekogaru, forward!" Queen Joukai cried, drawing her white sword, Howaido.

Her sister stood beside her, the black blade Kuromeru in her hand. Princess Nimaime was a stubborn girl, almost (but not quite) as bad as her sister, which was probably why Joukai instead of Nimaime was queen.

Nekogaru, the cat hanyou, nimbly dashed around the giant spider, slashing at it with her whip. She hissed at it, and it roared in response. Kentaurosu whinnied fiercely, her horse's body twisting even as she shot an arrow towards its eye.

The wretched thing snarled, then whined, shrank, and died. Nekogaru wound her whip back up and tucked it into her belt. Kentaurosu tucked her bow over her quiver of arrows, and Queen Joukai and Princess Nimaime sheathed their giant swords.

"Where is Inuonna?" Kentaurosu asked, plucking her arrow out of the dead demon.

Nekogaru scowled. "Most likely licking her — "

Someone cleared her throat behind the cat demon. Nekogaru's eyes narrowed to slits, and the fine coat of fur on her body stood on end. She turned, hissing, at the half-dog demon behind her. Inuonna's ears were slowly flattening to her hair. Nekogaru's claws were coming out, and she scowled.

"Ran away with your tail between your legs, hmm?" she snapped.

"I was killing another baka that stumbled into MY wood," Inuonna growled.

"It's not your wood, mesuinu!"

"Furball!"

"Dogbreath!"

"Coward!"

"Puppy!"

"Why, you — "

"INUONNA, SIT!"

Inuonna had an instant to look panicked as the bone amulet around her neck glowed, before...

WHAM.

Nimaime put a foot on her aide's back. Inuonna's muscles tensed as she felt the princess probing her mind. "You brought outsiders into the village, did you not?" she roared.

"They promised to help us, Princess!" Inuonna yelled. "One of them was a monk, and he made a bargain with me!"

"A MALE?!"

"Three, actually, your highness," Inuonna replied sheepishly.

"Inuonna, heel!" Joukai shouted.

Nimaime lifted her foot, and Inuonna scampered over, her tail between her legs. "Yes, Queen Joukai?"

"Good job. Come on, let's get back now."

She and Nimaime started back through the wood, followed by Kentaurosu. Nekogaru stuck out a sandpaper tongue and blew a raspberry, then dropped to all fours and ran after her friends.

"Why, you — "

* * *

Shippou stared. "What is that?"

"It looks like some kind of village," said Sango.

"It's big for a hideout," Kagome commented.

"That hanyou girl told us to come through, so it's probably trustworthy," Miroku said. "I don't think she was an accomplice of Naraku or Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha scowled. "Something's funny."

Kagome nodded. "Yes..." she said vaguely. "Nothing really bad, but there is something strange about this place."

"Do you think they have any food?" Shippou asked eagerly, perching on Kagome's head.

"Probably," Sango said. "Let's go in and see."

They passed over a bridge spanning a small stream, slightly steaming. "It probably connects to a spring," Inuyasha mused. "That explains why there's a settlement here."

The entrance to the village wasn't guarded. Along the streets, there were women and girls of all ages, some youkai, some human and many that were definitely hanyou bustled about. Children played in the doorways of houses while their mothers cleaned, cooked or sewed while the watched. A few younger women could be seen sparring with wooden practice swords or shooting arrows at targets. Two of the women were using triple-bladed spears. But there was definitely something odd...

"Where are the men?" Inuyasha said suddenly.

"Who cares?" Miroku sniggered. Sango growled.

"Who needs them?" she said smugly.

Miroku grinned at a passing girl with long, yellow hair and pale white skin. She giggled and waved. Next to him, Sango snarled again.

_'Where did that girl go?'_ Kagome thought. _'She disappeared almost half an hour ago, and now Inuyasha's getting bored, Miroku's getting restless, and Sango's getting mad because Miroku's getting restless.'_

"What's that?" Shippou asked, squinting up at the sky.

Something very large and very awkward was flying towards them. Kagome and Sango stepped out of the way just in time as two very short women, one black-haired, the other white, both with butterfly wings allowing them to flutter overhead, landed in front of the group. Miroku looked like he had just discovered strip clubs. Both of them were very scantily dressed, but when they sat the three companions that had apparently held on to them, Sango nearly popped a vein at the look on Miroku's face.

The black-clothed butterfly girl had long black hair, black eyes, coal-colored skin, and black wings, and she wore a short black dress with an inch of fringe on the hem. The white butterfly wore white, of course, a leotard with thigh-length, painted leather boots and a long cape. Her hair, eyes, skin, and wings were pure white, and slightly translucent. Both of them had sheathed swords buckled around their waists.

And then there were three others. One had the white body of a horse below her waist, but the tail was blue, like the girl's hair, eyes, and very small stomach-baring shirt. A quiver of arrows was slung over her shoulder, and she clutched a bow. The second had a long, brown tail like a cat's, brown ears poking out of a mane of caramel hair, and brown eyes. A whip was coiled around her belt. The third was, of course, the veiled girl.

The white butterfly landed and bowed. "Welcome to Anseijiyochi. I am Queen Joukai, and this is my sister, Princess Nimaime." She waved at the black butterfly, who bowed in midair. "The centaur is Warrior Kentaurosu, the cat is Warrior Nekogaru, and I believe you've already met Warrior Inuonna."

Kentaurosu put a fist over where a human heart would be, Nekogaru dipped her head in a small bow, and Inuonna grunted.

"Stop calling me dog, Joukai," she muttered.

"We prefer to be called by our names only," Nimaime put in.

Kagome waited for Inuyasha to introduce them. And waited. Finally she stepped forward. "I'm Kagome. Then there's Miroku, Sango, and Shippou."

"Hi!" Shippou said cheerfully.

"A kitsune, how cute!" Nimaime squealed. She dropped to the ground and patted Shippou's head, who smirked.

"Oh yeah, and this is Inuyasha," Kagome said carelessly.

Inuyasha grunted, arms crossed. It was then that Kagome noticed where his eyes were.

He and Inuonna were both standing in similar poses. Inuonna's tail whipped back and forth in what looked like a very irritated way. Neither of them would blink. Kagome rolled her eyes and shoved Inuyasha a little, making him blink, just as Nimaime stomped on Inuonna's toe.

"Be polite!" Kagome and the princess both yelled.

Miroku sighed. "This could be dangerous." Nekogaru dropped down to the ground, sitting cross-legged, so her short skirt shifted up her legs. Miroku grinned. "And yet..."

SLAP.

Sango's hand still quivered as Miroku rubbed the handprint on his cheek. Kentaurosu laughed, which sounded weirdly like whinnying. "Follow me. I can find lodging for you all."

* * *

Thankfully, the lodging was gender-separated. Close to the center of the village were several houses apparently built for guests like them. Miroku, Shippou and Inuyasha had a little hut next to Sango and Kagome's. In the very center of the village, the queen, princess, and the three warriors that they had met earlier lived. Kagome and Sango sat just outside of their hut, watching the sun set as Kagome studied and Sango played with Kirara.

Several of what were apparently half-wolf cubs dashed by, laughing as a larger half-eagle flew above them, chasing them all over the street. Sango scowled as the yellow-haired demon Miroku had flirted with earlier stopped in front of their hut, holding an identical child, but with a few black streaks in her hair.

"Um, hello," the woman said hesitantly.

"Hello," Sango said stonily.

"I'm Huntress Rakurai," she introduced, "and this is my daughter Raiden. Raiden was wondering if she could play with your, uh...cat." Raiden smiled as her mother sat her on the ground, an expression made even more adorable by the fact that she was missing her two front teeth.

Sango's face lit up. Kagome dropped her book.

"Of course!" Kagome said, smiling. "Her name's Kirara."

Kirara hopped off Sango's shoulder and nuzzled Raiden's foot, who giggled and scratched behind her ears. "What a cute kitty you are!" she squealed.

"Do you want to ride her?" Sango asked.

The girl's forehead wrinkled up. "But she's much too small — oh!"

Kirara had transformed, and now rubbed her nose against the little girl's cheek. Raiden giggled as her mother carefully boosted her onto Kirara's back. The "kitty" gracefully ran around the street, moving smoothly, with Raiden clinging to her neck.

"She's cute," Kagome said to Rakurai. "How old is she?"

"Thirty-three next month," the demon said proudly.

The girls exchanged glances. "She looks barely five!" Sango exclaimed.

"In human years, yes. What can I say? I'm going to be two hundred and forty two weeks after her birthday. Lightning demons age slowly."

As Rakurai gathered her daughter and Kirara curled up on Sango's shoulder, the schoolgirl and the tajiya shook their heads at each other.

"Weird place."

"Tell me about it."


End file.
